Blaby District Council has reissued key documents for its Blaby Regulation 19 Local Plan consultation and extended the closing date after discovering that an incorrect email address appeared in some consultation information.
The Proposed Submission consultation, which opened on 8 July 2026 and was originally due to close on 24 August, will now remain open until 12 noon on Monday 7 September 2026.
For landowners, developers and planning consultants, the practical message is simple: if you downloaded the plan or consultation material earlier in the summer, use the amended documents dated 21 August 2026 before finalising a representation. And if a representation was sent by email, check exactly where it went.
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What has the Blaby Regulation 19 Local Plan amendment changed?
Blaby says an incorrect email address appeared in some Local Plan consultation information. Because that could have affected whether emailed representations reached the Development Strategy team, the Council has extended the consultation and published amended material.
The Regulation 19 page now lists three documents uploaded on 21 August 2026:
- Amended Blaby District Council Proposed Submission Local Plan
- Amended Statement of Consultation 2026
- Statement of Representations Procedure and Availability of Documents, revised for the extended deadline
The amended Proposed Submission Plan itself is marked “Amended Version 21/08/2026: Consultation End Date Extended”. The Council’s published explanation identifies the email-address error as the reason for the extension.
On the primary material presently available, this should be treated as an administrative consultation correction and deadline extension, not as evidence that Blaby has rewritten its spatial strategy or changed site allocations on 21 August. Anyone alleging a substantive policy change should identify the actual changed wording rather than infer it from the word “amended”.
The revised closing date is 7 September 2026
The Blaby Regulation 19 Local Plan consultation now closes at 12 noon on Monday 7 September 2026.
The extension gives an extra two weeks beyond the original 24 August deadline. Blaby says late representations will not be accepted, so the revised deadline should not be treated as elastic.
If you have already made a representation, check the email address
If you used the Council’s online consultation form, the specific check Blaby is asking people to carry out does not apply. Its published warning is directed at representations sent by email.
The correct address is [email protected]. Blaby is asking people who emailed a representation to check the recipient. If it went to a different address, the Council says it should be resubmitted through the online consultation form or sent to the correct email address so that it is received and considered.
Even where a representation has already been safely lodged, it is worth checking the amended 21 August documents if your case relies on procedural wording, consultation dates or references in the reissued material.
Why an earlier downloaded copy should not be your working version
Local Plan representations are often prepared over several weeks, with consultants and landowners circulating saved PDFs internally. That creates an obvious version-control risk here.
If your submission was drafted against an earlier download, check the Council’s current Regulation 19 page and use the documents marked as amended on 21 August before signing off. At minimum, the consultation timetable and representation procedure have changed. A representation which quotes an obsolete closing date or follows the wrong contact information is avoidable noise at a stage when precision matters.
This is particularly important for site promoters submitting lengthy technical cases. Keep a copy of the version relied upon and make sure policy, paragraph and appendix references still match the current Proposed Submission document.
Regulation 19 is not another broad ideas consultation
Planning authorities routinely call this the Regulation 19 consultation, but the legal mechanics are worth understanding. Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 is the publication stage for the proposed submission documents and the representations procedure; representations are then invited under Regulation 20.
In practical language, this is the version of the Local Plan which Blaby considers ready to submit for independent examination. It is not the same exercise as an earlier Regulation 18 consultation where the authority is testing options and inviting broad views about what the plan should contain.
The Planning Inspectorate’s current procedure guide says the plan published at Regulation 19 should be the plan the authority intends to submit. That is why representations at this point are expected to engage with soundness and legal compliance, rather than simply saying that somebody likes or dislikes a proposal.
Soundness: what should a representation actually address?
Blaby’s own guidance asks representors to say whether the plan is sound and, if not, what change would make it sound. The familiar tests are whether the plan is:
- positively prepared – providing a strategy which seeks to meet the area’s objectively assessed needs and relevant cross-boundary requirements
- justified – an appropriate strategy, taking account of reasonable alternatives and based on proportionate evidence
- effective – deliverable over the plan period and based on effective joint working on cross-boundary strategic matters
- consistent with national policy – enabling delivery of sustainable development in accordance with national policy
For a landowner or developer, “our site is better” is rarely enough on its own. A stronger representation identifies the policy or allocation challenged, explains which soundness test is failed, supports that conclusion with evidence and states the modification sought.
Legal compliance is a different question
Legal compliance concerns whether the plan has been prepared in accordance with the statutory and procedural framework. Blaby’s guidance points to matters such as the Local Development Scheme, the Local Planning Regulations, Sustainability Appraisal, Habitats Regulations Assessment, consultation requirements and relevant plan-making duties.
A legal-compliance objection should therefore identify the legal or procedural requirement said not to have been met. It is not interchangeable with an argument that a policy is poor planning.
The email-address error is a good example of why the distinction matters. Blaby has chosen to extend the representation period and correct the published material so that people who may have used the wrong address have a further opportunity to ensure their representations are received.
For the wider policy context, see our explanation of what forms the development plan and how an adopted Local Plan becomes central to decision-making.
For a contrasting Regulation 19 plan operating at a much larger strategic scale, see our analysis of the Greater Cambridge Local Plan.
Practical points for landowners, developers and consultants
Before 12 noon on 7 September, a practitioner reviewing the Blaby Regulation 19 Local Plan should consider:
- whether the representation is based on the amended 21 August documents
- whether any earlier emailed representation actually went to [email protected]
- whether the representation identifies the relevant policy, paragraph, allocation or map change precisely
- whether the case is framed against legal compliance and/or a particular test of soundness
- whether the evidence supports the change being requested
- whether the representor wants to participate in examination hearing sessions and has completed the relevant part of the representation form
Where a site is being promoted, it is also sensible to explain deliverability rather than merely capacity: ownership, access, infrastructure, constraints, viability, timing and the relationship with the Council’s overall strategy can all matter to whether an alternative or modified allocation is genuinely justified and effective.
What happens after 7 September?
Blaby says it will summarise and consider the representations. It may suggest minor modifications to update or correct the plan. If significant changes are thought necessary, they must be handled in accordance with Planning Inspectorate guidance rather than quietly rewriting the submission document after consultation.
The Council’s current timetable is to submit the plan, the representations and the required supporting material for independent examination by the end of 2026. An Inspector appointed on behalf of the Secretary of State will then examine legal compliance and soundness, with hearing sessions on the matters the Inspector considers necessary.
If main modifications are needed to make the plan sound or legally compliant, the Inspector can recommend them where the Council has requested that route. Adoption follows only if the examination concludes that the statutory requirements can be met.
Primary sources
- Blaby District Council: Proposed Local Plan Regulation 19 consultation
- Blaby District Council: how to make a Regulation 19 representation
- Blaby District Council: Local Plan stages and next steps
- Planning Inspectorate: Procedure Guide for Local Plan Examinations
- GOV.UK: model representation guidance for legacy-system Local Plans
- Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012
Created: 24th August 2026 | Blaby Regulation 19 Local Plan
